Hold the AD to account!

Email Marvin Lewis! Tell Him that this result was unacceptable. Tell Him we want more investment in the program so Tony can keep pace with vcu. Turn up the heat and hold our leaders accountable! Get tangible answers on a possible future arena and our basketball budget!
 

Portlandian

Hall of Famer
Does the school have the means to keep up with vcu? The desire to keep up with vcu? Are they happy with being a middle of the road program in the A10? Would it make more sense to spend the same amount of money as they do now but in a smaller conference like the CAA or the Big South?

I would love to get an honest communication about their means and desires--if they want to stay in the middle of the pack because they don't feel like they have the will or the way to keep up with the Jones', that is fine. Just be honest about it.
 

Portlandian

Hall of Famer
That is fair--I love GMU basketball and would still follow and chat about them, be it the Big South or D3. At the end of the day, this should be FUN. The team and how well it does on the basketball court, does that really impact the pedigree of our Mason degrees?
 

jruby

Starter
Sports are part of the college experience for some. I'm not sure most at Mason would care either way. I don't know it's an interesting debate..... Would no sports force people not to attend? Who knows... Hey at least we aren't GW who poured 5 million into a team and still couldn't win!
 

TweederGMU

All-American
⭐️ Donor ⭐️
I mean at this point to drop conferences would generate zero support. Fans would leave, I think if they want to do that they may honestly just consider not funding scholarships at all and going D3.
Our x amount (200?) hardcore fans in Pittsburgh and on this board now wouldn't leave... they would still be going to games and on this board complaining at everything.

The 75 student fans who consistently come to games would leave... nah man... I don't even think they know the differences in leagues or could even name 3 of them.

We wouldn't drop down conferences.... we have made our bed going up to the A10 and now we have to play in it. The reality we all have to ask is HOW we want to be in it. Fully committed and up our investments or stay here in the middle of everything in the A10 and hope for success doing the same playbook over and over with how things are run, investments, etc.
 
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jruby

Starter
Our x amount (200?) hardcore fans in Pittsburgh and on this board now wouldn't leave... they would still be going to games and on this board complaining at everything.

The 75 student fans who consistently come to games would leave... nah man... I don't even think they know the differences in leagues or could even name 3 of them.

We wouldn't drop down conferences.... we have made our bed going up to the A10 and now we have to play in it. The reality we all have to ask is HOW we want to be in it. Fully committed and up our investments or stay here in the middle of everything in the A10 and hope for success doing the same playbook over and over with how things are run, investments, etc.
To clarify here, you aren't going to get new fans by dropping conferences. The hardcore are who they are no matter what. I mean I don't think winning would change either. They aren't going to pay 2 million for a coach in a league like that, you also aren't going to recruit in a league like that. There's basically no point like I was trying to say you may as well just go d3 if you do that. Your accepting you will never compete. As far as competing in the A10, it may be better to just focus on winning in sports they can win in. Softball, soccer, baseball, women's basketball. There's absolutely zero excuse for not winning and being at top of conference every year in those sports with Talent in nova. LOCO is a hotbed for those sports and just accepting they are middle of the road in Mens basketball. However to be fair for about a decade Mason was in the basement of the A10 so we could objectively say it's trending upward.
 

Ben Chwarmer

Hall of Famer
GIVING DAY 2023
I love Skinn. He really has an eye for talent. He legitimately took a backup center from a lower conference and turned him into a 2nd-team All-Conference player. Just imagine what Skinn could do if he actually had money to spend.

But for whatever reason, Mason hasn’t fully bought into its flagship athletic program.

It’s going to be hard to continue paying Skinn while also finding the money for NIL.

Mason’s NIL budget is estimated around $2 million, while schools like vcu, Dayton, and SLU are closer to $6 million. St. Bonaventure basically canned Schmidt because they couldn’t afford both him and a competitive NIL budget. I worry that’s what could end up happening at Mason.
 

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mkaufman1

Administrator
Staff member
⭐️ Donor ⭐️
GIVING DAY 2023
I love Skinn. He really has an eye for talent. He legitimately took a backup center from a lower conference and turned him into a 2nd-team All-Conference player. Just imagine what Skinn could do if he actually had money to spend.

But for whatever reason, Mason hasn’t fully bought into its flagship athletic program.

It’s going to be hard to continue paying Skinn while also finding the money for NIL.

Mason’s NIL budget is estimated around $2 million, while schools like vcu, Dayton, and SLU are closer to $6 million. St. Bonaventure basically canned Schmidt because they couldn’t afford both him and a competitive NIL budget. I worry that’s what could end up happening at Mason.
Mason is not going to can Skinn and invest in NIL. Totally different animal.

Expect us to have more budget this year.
 

mkaufman1

Administrator
Staff member
⭐️ Donor ⭐️
GIVING DAY 2023
@mkaufman1 - see the screenshot.

Post your email screenshot.
Subject: Basketball Emergency (Probably)

Dear Marvin,

This result was unacceptable and we respectfully demand more investment so Tony can keep pace with vcu, including a bigger basketball budget, a future arena, and possibly turning up the heat on leadership because right now the heat feels like a lukewarm soup situation. Also please provide tangible answers soon because the fanbase, several spreadsheets, and at least one confused golden retriever are requesting accountability immediately.
 

Ben Chwarmer

Hall of Famer
GIVING DAY 2023
Mason is not going to can Skinn and invest in NIL. Totally different animal.

Expect us to have more budget this year.
I’m not expecting them to can him haha. But it would be a very Mason thing to not give him the resources he needs.

Also, the longer it takes for Skinn to get to the tourney, the harder it’s going to be to recruit. Who wants to play for a program that hasn’t gone dancing in 20 years?

So I hope you’re right. I hope they find more NIL money quickly.
 

mkaufman1

Administrator
Staff member
⭐️ Donor ⭐️
GIVING DAY 2023
I’m not expecting them to can him haha. But it would be a very Mason thing to not give him the resources he needs.

Also, the longer it takes for Skinn to get to the tourney, the harder it’s going to be to recruit. Who wants to play for a program that hasn’t gone dancing in 20 years?

So I hope you’re right. I hope they find more NIL money quickly.
Understand. My hope is every year they give him more (and my understanding is they will).

Portal recruitment is different, but hopefully we can strike gold again since we were so close last year.
 

TweederGMU

All-American
⭐️ Donor ⭐️
Sports are part of the college experience for some. I'm not sure most at Mason would care either way. I don't know it's an interesting debate..... Would no sports force people not to attend? Who knows... Hey at least we aren't GW who poured 5 million into a team and still couldn't
enjoy Caputo Gdub
 

MasonSAE4

All-American
⭐️ Donor ⭐️
Emailing the AD and requesting that he honor kill himself because our first team A10 player got hurt three minutes into the year
 
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